German Activists Turn Off Oil Pipelines In Protest Of North Sea Drilling

German environmental activists turned off several crude oil pipelines at different locations in the country on Wednesday to force the government to stop all new fossil fuels projects, especially any that include North Sea drilling.

Activists of the group named The Last Generation or originally Letzte Generation entered the pipeline's emergency shut-off stations and activated the shut-off valves which stop the flow of oil and gas in emergencies.

They also put an artistic touch to it by decorating the valves with sunflowers while some took a different approach and either superglued or chained themselves to the valve wheel.

The activists specifically addressed the Minister for Economic Affairs Robert Habeck who is part of the Green Party.

“He must make a statement that there will be no new fossil infrastructure projects. Oil drilling is not permitted in the North Sea. Most recently, the FDP Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner and SPD politicians wanted to examine an expanded oil and gas well on the border to the national park. The ‘green’ Minister Habeck took up this suggestion and is currently examining it,” Letzte Generation stated.

“We are in a climate emergency! The federal government is not only ignoring this and plans to fuel it further. Wanting to drill for oil in our North Sea now – that's madness that you must stop, Mr. Habeck!" says Edmund Schulz, an activist for Letzte Generation.

“Today I turned off the emergency valve of the RMR pipeline near Koblenz. Because an emergency is worth disturbing our peace?"

The environmental group also reminded of a statement made by the President of the Pacific Island nation of Palau, Surangel Whipps Jr, who said that further fossil infrastructure was tantamount to a declaration of war on the Pacific Island states and that ‘we might as well drop bombs’ on Palau.

"I'm not doing this anymore! This is an emergency, and it is my moral duty to act accordingly. I stand by it with my name and face. The government now has it in its hands – either it makes a declaration of life and stops this fossil madness, or it locks me away," says Jakob Bayer, another activist of Letzte Generation.

Citizens of the group announced that they would continue to use all means of peaceful civil resistance should the government not credibly declare that it would stop the ‘fossil madness’.

Also, 230 people have been arrested in Frankfurt in the last two weeks when they used road blockades to demand an end to the financing of new and redundant oil rigs.

This protest by Letzte Generation comes less than a week after Germany announced that it was prepared to go ahead with the N05-A project in the North Sea above the German Wadden island of Borkum in partnership with Dutch firm ONE-Dyas. First gas from this fully electrified development could be produced in two years.

Since the gas field is located under the Dutch and German seabed, the agreement of both countries is needed before gas extraction. The Netherlands had previously approved of the plan, but Germany was initially opposed to the idea.

Until recently, the German authorities had a no-go policy in terms of drilling in its waters north of the Wadden Islands. Now, the situation has changed as the Russian invasion of Ukraine could lead to gas shortages and this prospect can’t be ignored.

The field and surrounding prospects and discoveries could deliver a total of up to 2.12 trillion cubic feet. This number is one and half times the annual consumption in the Netherlands.

The project has its detractors in both countries as Wilhelmina van Gent, the mayor of the Dutch Wadden Island Schiermonnikoog is still against the plans as well as certain representatives from the council in Borkum. They stated that it was ‘old fashioned and outdated to drill for new gas fields’ and that gas drilling should be done ‘further north.’

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